A Delicious Italian Adventure Awaits with Chef Craig

Forget the beach this summer… there are much better trips awaiting you and your taste buds!   If you’ve experienced the wonderful cuisine of Executive Chef Craig Richards of La Tavola Trattoria in Atlanta’s Virginia Highlands, you know he knows his way around creating amazing Italian food.  

Now you can join him for a full week in Tuscany from June 18-25 with a great schedule of cooking classes, trips to visit beautiful Sienna and Florence, plus tours of local culinary delights like a cheese factory and much more!  If that’s not enough to make you start packing your bags, you can find more information online. 

The Flavors of Friuli at La Tavola Trattoria

Last night I had the pleasure of dining at La Tavola Trattoria to taste the collaboration between the restaurant's Executive Chef Craig Richards and his good friend from Italy, famed Italian Chef Luca Plett. Craig spent time in Luca's kitchen at Ristorante Al Ponte in Friuli last fall and came back with a lot of great ideas to incorporate into the menu at La Tavola, so we knew we were in for some fantastic food. My favorite part of the meal was one of the specials, a nettle ravioli dish, that is pictured above and contained fresh nettles that Luca was able to bring over from Italy. We also really enjoyed the pennoni with rabbit, which is currently on
the restaurant's regular dinner menu (pictured right). If you haven't had a chance to check out any of the nightly specials inspired by Friuli yet, I highly suggest running to the phone and calling 404-873-5430 to make a reservation for tonight's "Friuli Finale" five-course dinner that is being offered at 6:30 p.m. for $65 per person. Check out the menu for tonight here - and be prepared to drool.

Vote on Atlanta's Hottest Chef at Adventurous Tastes

Nothing is hotter than someone who knows their way around a kitchen. In case you haven't been peaking in the kitchen when dining in some of Atlanta's hotspots, Lindsey Zuckerman of the food blog Adventurous Tastes, pulled together a very attractive list of chefs from around the city.

And after two weeks of nomitations from readers, you can now vote on who you think should be crowned Atlanta's Hottest Chef. The list of chefs heating things up in the kitchen include:

Kozmo Gastropub's Chef Travis Collum
Shaun's Chef Shaun Doty
The Shed at Glenwood's Chef Lance Gummere
The Sun Dial's Chef Christian Messier
Pacci's Chef Keira Moritz
Holy Taco's Chef Robert Phalen
La Tavola's Chef Craig Richards
French American Brasserie's Chef Stephen Sharp


Voting ends July 24, so be sure and choose your favorite!

Forget Fat Tuesday, Enjoy "The Fat One" at La Tavola Trattoria!

Italians affectionately refer to Bologna, Italy as “La Grassa”…the fat one. That’s a compliment when we’re discussing dishes from this tasty epicenter of Northern Italian cuisine. La Tavola Trattoria, Fifth Group Restaurants' cozy Italian restaurant in Virginia-Highland, has made an annual celebration out of the cuisine of Bologna. This year, the La Grassa celebration is from March 4 through March 14, and the specialties are available as a three-course prix fixe menu for $27 (plus tax and gratuity) or as à la carte items ($6.75-$17). Although Chef Craig Richards' cuisine is always a hit, believe me, you do not want to miss this culinary tradition! Some of his special dishes are cotechino sausage with Castelluccio lentils and housemade mustard; borlotti bean and kale soup; mushroom Bolognese lasagna; fazzoletti pasta with duck ragu and red wine-braised greens; braised pork spare ribs with cherry peppers, shallots, new potatoes and balsamic vinegar; and roasted half-chicken stuffed with orange and rosemary and served with broccoli rabe and vin cotto. Click here to watch Craig making one of last year's La Grassa dishes. For reservations, call 404-873-5430. La Tavola Trattoria: 992 Virginia Avenue, NE; 404-873-5430.

A Mouthful To Pronounce, But Worth Every Bite: Abbondanza at La Tavola Trattoria

Beginning today, Virginia-Highland neighborhood favorite La Tavola Trattoria is making it abundantly clear that you and your friends must hurry in to celebrate the bountiful cultural and culinary wealth of Italy’s heartland. The restauant's $39.95 prix fixe Abbondanza menu is available through October 18. Or, if you're craving a particular dish, the special menu is also available à la carte. Watch Executive Chef Craig Richards making the baked ricotta salad from the menu here. Vajra Stratigos, Fifth Group Restaurants’ beverage director, recommends completing your Abbondanza menu selections with Italian wines from La Tavola’s abundant list: Zenato, Valpolicella, Veneto 2006; Avanta, Pinot Grigio, Veneto 2007; Antonio Coscia, Arneis, Piedmont 2005; and Coltibuono, Chianti Classico 2006, are a few to try. For reservations, click here. La Tavola Trattoria: 992 Virginia Avenue, NE; 404-873-5430.

The Time is Ripe for Tomatoes

As I wrote yesterday, I recently prepared a dinner celebrating the tomato. This week a couple of Atlanta restaurants will be hosting their annual dinners honoring the apple of love as well.

Chef Michael Tuohy will feature a rich variety of some of the state's best tomatoes for Woodfire Grill's 6th Annual Tomato Dinner on Wednesday, July 30. The four-course tomato menu, complete with wine pairings, runs $65 per person excluding tax and gratuity. Come join Chef Tuohy at his last tomato dinner in Atlanta. He's California-bound in August, moving west to open Grange in the Citizen Hotel, a boutique hotel near the state capitol in Sacramento. Tomato Dinner spaces are limited so call now to reserve your spot: 404-347- 9055. Woodfire Grill is located at 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road.

La Tavola Trattoria's Tomatofest runs from July 30 through August 9 with a special menu put together by Executive Chef Craig Richards with heirloom tomatoes from Dillwood Farms in Loganville. The Tomatofest menu is available à la carte ($6 - $21) or for the prix fixe cost of $39 per person. Drool over the menu offerings online. The video below features Richards making the heirloom tomato, peach and fennel salad from the menu. Enjoy Tomatofest dishes nightly at La Tavola Trattoria, 992 Virginia Avenue, NE; 404-873-5430.




Photos from La Tavola Heirloom Tasting 2008 by Alli Royce